The festival is presented by the Stanford Jazz Workshop from June 25 through Aug. 6 at various venues on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto.

Audiences can look forward to nearly two months' worth of concerts by a diverse lineup of performers. And with education central to the festival, it's likely that even those listeners who are convinced they are tone deaf will learn a little something.

After all, the whole event started as a way for jazz musicians to learn more about their craft. The festival grew out of the Stanford Jazz Workshop, which was founded by Jim Nadel in 1972. Nadel, a saxophonist and Stanford graduate, put up fliers around the campus inviting musicians to weekly jazz jam sessions and discussions.

On each evening following a jam session, the musicians gathered for a discussion of the songs they played the night before. They also talked about different approaches to improvisation, as well as what songs they might try at the next jam. "This idea of talking about music and exchanging information is what defined the beginning of the workshop," says Nadel, who is the executive director of the Stanford Jazz Workshop and the Stanford Jazz Festival.

A community of musicians quickly grew around the jams and discussions, so much so that a second weekly jam session was added, followed by summer education programs. When the legendary saxophonist Stan Getz, then a recent Bay Area transplant, came to teach at the summer program in 1982, it put the workshop on the map for the worldwide jazz community.

The Stanford Jazz Workshop began offering a weeklong residential program that year. That has since grown into a two-week jazz camp for youth ages 12-17 and a week of residential programs for adults and some advanced youth.

The festival evolved out of regular concerts held as part of the educational programs. Musicians who taught during the day would perform at night for their students. Any extra seats at these events were offered to the general public. By the mid-'90s, increasing public interest in the concerts led to creation of the Stanford Jazz Festival. This year, the festival offers about 30 public concerts.

The environment around the festival may be scholarly, but that doesn't mean learning can't be fun. Nadel says the atmosphere created by holding the workshop simultaneously with the festival adds an unusual spark to the concerts.

Many jazz musicians on touring schedules typically spend little time in any one place and tours can become a daily grind. By contrast, musicians usually spend about a week at the Stanford Jazz Festival. Every day, they interact with students who are excited to learn from them.

"The whole thing builds," Nadel says. "We will bring together combinations of musicians who might not normally play together and that can be stimulating. So after a week of getting to know each other or reuniting with old friends, and being in this rarified environment where the students are listening to every note and everyone is excited about the music, when the faculty does perform--and they're performing to a house that's maybe half students of the music--quite often they'll play at their highest level."

Nadel emphasizes that audiences don't have to be in the know to appreciate the concerts. But for anyone who would like to learn more, the festival offers some audience education programs. The Early Bird Jazz concert introduces children to basic jazz concepts and instruments. The Everything You Wanted to Know About Jazz performance presents an overview for youth and adults of different jazz styles. New this year is Inside Jazz, a series of discussions presented by musicians before the concerts. These talks will explore some of finer points of the music audiences are about to hear.

However educated the ear--or not--Nadel points out that music always has something new to offer every listener. He may be the founder of a renowned jazz education program and a festival that draws big names, but Nadel says he's still learning, too.

"Music is one of those things that is just open, and the more you learn, the more you realize there is, and the more you listen, the deeper you can get into the music," he says. "It's one of those pursuits that is worthy of a life study, and an ongoing thing. Quite a few years later, I still consider myself a student."

The festival kicks off on June 25, 8 p.m. with a special tribute to Ray Charles featuring saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman. For a complete schedule of events, see www.stanfordjazz.org. Tickets are $10-$38 (students half-price); prices vary by event. Call for tickets, 650.725.ARTS.